Donnie Freeman ruled out of Players Era Festival with lower-body injury
Syracuse star forward Donnie Freeman has been ruled out of this week’s Players Era Festival due to a lower-body injury, SU Athletics confirmed Monday. Avery Magee | Assistant Photo Editor
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LAS VEGAS — Syracuse star forward Donnie Freeman will not play in this week’s Players Era Festival due to a lower-body injury, SU Athletics confirmed via social media Monday.
Freeman sported a walking boot on his right foot in a Saturday social media post that Syracuse men’s basketball sent out before the team flew to Las Vegas. The team quickly took down the post. Now, Freeman will miss the Orange’s next two games against No. 3 Houston and Kansas as well as a third contest on either Wednesday or Thursday, if not more.
Through Syracuse’s 4-0 start to the regular season, Freeman led the team with 17.8 points per game and tallied 5.3 rebounds on average. He showed more of a willingness to try the 3-ball than he did last year, too, going 3-for-11 from deep as one of five SU players to tally double-digit 3-point attempts so far.
Freeman is expected to be one of the players who elevates Syracuse back to the NCAA Tournament. Third-year head coach Adrian Autry convinced Freeman and SU senior guard J.J. Starling to return to the program, despite both having plentiful options via the transfer portal and NBA Draft route.
However, as the Orange get ready to enter a loaded tournament field in Vegas, they won’t have their top forward on the court with them. William Kyle III, Sadiq White and Tyler Betsey will likely be tasked with much of the dirty work down low against March Madness-bound programs, starting with No. 3 Houston on Monday.
